The life of James Duffy is baffling to the modern reader. He is recorded in the Entry Book of the Industrial and Reformatory School Brisbane on April 27, 1871.
His height and weight were not recorded, but he was described as being of fair complexion, with grey eyes and black hair. His father was Mr T Duffy, a fisherman of Shafston Avenue, Kangaroo Point. He was Roman Catholic.
He was also 14 years of age, and his trade/profession was listed as “barman.” Good God.
When Duffy appeared before the Police Magistrate on 27 April 1871, he was described as “an old offender.” On this occasion, he had been seen with a desk the property of a Mr A J Thynne of Kangaroo Point. The old offender wasn’t particularly subtle – the person who saw him was a girl who had known him all his life. At the time Duffy was seen, he was taking the desk to the yard of an empty house, where a local businessman, Mr Cairncross, subsequently noticed it.
The desk appeared to have been broken open with a charcoal stick, and when Cairncross opened it, had papers with the word Thynne on them, so he rode up to the Thynne residence and found a French Light to the verandah broken.
Mr Thynne gave evidence that several rings belonging to his wife had been taken from the desk, as well as coins.
Once the Police had heard from the girl, Cairncross and Thynne, things looked very bleak for Duffy. At 14, he already had a conviction for burglary and one for larceny, and he had done 3 months’ hard labour in Brisbane Gaol. At 13. This was another indictable offence, and he was looking at some serious time.
The Magistrates looked at the lad in front of them, and ordered 3 years in the Industrial and Reformatory School, Moreton Bay. It may have had the desired effect, because Duffy was released a full year before his sentence expired.
Before anyone pictures an actual school in the ordinary meaning of the word, remember, this is Moreton Bay. The Industrial and Reformatory School for Boys was opened in 1871 – just in time for Master Duffy, who was its third pupil. The former prison hulk “Proserpine” had been refitted especially for the purpose, and it was aboard this ship that Duffy spent two of the three years of his sentence.
A Reformatory on dry land was established in 1871.
Sources
Queensland State Archives Series ID 986, Admission Registers – Proserpine’ Hulk and Reformatory Schools for Boys – Lytton, Diamantina, Westbrook The Brisbane Courier, 21 April 1871.
Moreton Bay and More 